Novatex withdraws offer to acquire 75% holding in Lotte Chemical

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Novatex Limited has withdrawn its public announcement of intention (PAI) to acquire 75.01% shares of Lotte Chemical Pakistan Limited (LOTCHEM), said Pakistantoday.

The announcement was made by the manager of the offer, Arif Habib Limited (AHL), to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX). According to the notification issued by the manager of the offer, the PAI was withdrawn because the parties were unable to agree on the terms of the transaction. The initial acquisiton announcement was made six months ago on July 13, 2022.

The share price of LOTCHEM closed at Rs 24.85 on Monday, down 4.64%.

LOTCHEM was incorporated in Pakistan on 30 May 1998. The principal activity of the company is the manufacture and sale of Pure Terephthalic Acid (PTA).

Lotte, the South Korean conglomerate, acquired the majority shareholdings in Pakistan PTA Limited (PPTA) in September 2009. Subsequently, the name of the company was changed to Lotte Chemical Pakistan Ltd. The corporation is the single largest shareholder of LOTCHEM with a 75.01% shareholding.

We remind, Lotte Chemical is exiting the purified terephthalic acid (PTA) business with the sale of its 75.01% stake in LCPL (LOTTE CHEMICAL Pakistan Ltd). This divestment is part of the company’s medium-term strategy to strengthen its high value-added specialty materials business. LCPL, which produces 500,000 tonnes/year of PTA at Port Qasim in Karachi, will be sold to Pakistani chemical company Lucky Core Industries (LCI) for Korean won (W) 192.4bn ($156m) – more than 13 times Lotte Chemical’s acquisition cost in 2009.

The buyer LCI is formerly known as ICI Pakistan, which produces polyester – a derivative product of PTA.

The company has the capacity to produce 520,000 tonnes of PTA annually through its state-of-the-art plant located at Port Qasim, Karachi. The plant at the port was built using ICI’s state-of-the-art technology when it was commissioned in 1998. It produces Purified Terephthalic Acid (PTA), an essential raw material for Pakistan’s textile and PET packaging industries, and forms the backbone of the polyester chain, including Polyester Staple Fibre, Filament Yarn and PET (bottle grade) resin.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Trafigura Group said it has completed the sale of its 24.5% indirect minority stake in downstream energy and petrochemicals company Nayara Energy to Hara Capital, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mareterra Group, said the company.

Nayara operates the second largest single site refinery in Vadinar, India, and will be entering into the petrochemicals sector with a new 450,000 tonnes/y polypropylene plant that is currently being built at Vadinar and expected to start up by 4Q 2023.

We remind, Trafigura has sold its 24.5% stake in Russia-backed Indian refiner Nayara Energy to a Rome-based energy investment group, following on from a deal on Monday where a group of firms backed by the commodity trading company agreed to buy Lukoil's Italian refinery. Trafigura said it had completed the sale of its "indirect minority interest" in Nayara Energy to Hara Capital Sarl, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mareterra Group Holding formerly known as Genera Group Holding. Reuters reported in 2021 that the global commodity trader was looking to sell its stake in the Indian oil refining joint venture with Russia's Rosneft to an Italian group Genera.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- US-based custom packaging provider Summit Plastics has acquired Tim Fredman’s Fredman Bag Company, a flexible packaging company in Wisconsin, said Packaging-gateway.

Based in Milwaukee, Fredman manufactures printed and converted custom flexible packaging products for various markets, including food and beverage, healthcare and medical, agriculture, industrial and retail. The fifth-generation, family-owned and operated manufacturing business operates a 50,000ft facility with advanced printing and converting capabilities. The financial terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.

Summit Board chairman Tom Nathanson said: “We are delighted to partner with Fredman. “This transaction further expands our market reach and adds to our product capabilities. “We welcome the talented employee base at Fredman and look forward to their contributions to the combined business.”

A portfolio company of LongVue Capital (LVC), Summit Plastics provides custom film and bag solutions for a range of applications and markets. Fredman is the company’s third acquisition since LVC acquired Summit in 2020.

Summit said it remains focused on expanding its geographical presence and product offerings. The company has also created a vertically integrated platform to better serve customers across the packaging value chain.

It invested in custom flexible packaging producer Clearview Packaging last January. Fredman Bag president Tim Fredman said: “Partnering with Summit and ClearView will enhance our ability to support our employees, customers, and suppliers.

ClearView Packaging president Todd Romer said: “Fredman and ClearView are very similar; however, Fredman adds new capabilities that complement our current product offerings.

We remind, SK Geo Centric, a subsidiary of SK Innovation’s, has signed a contract with British company Plastic Energy, which specializes in chemical recycling of plastic waste, completing the “last puzzle” of the world’s first plastic recycling complex to be built in 2025. Amid a surge in demand for plastic recycled products worldwide, SK Geo Centric’s green business is building momentum.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Covestro and LANXESS are cooperating in the energy-intensive production of basic chemicals at their Lower Rhine sites in Germany and make them more climate friendly, said the company.

LANXESS procures chlorine, caustic soda and hydrogen from the ISCC PLUS-certified sites of Covestro in Leverkusen and Krefeld-Uerdingen. With immediate effect, Covestro is manufacturing around one-third of the volume of products it supplies to LANXESS using energy from hydropower based on guarantees of origin.

“Covestro is pursuing the goal of completely converting its production to electricity from renewable sources on its path to operational climate neutrality in 2035,” says Dr. Klaus Schafer, Chief Technology Officer, Covestro. Schafer adds, “A particular focus is on the energy-intensive production of basic raw materials. In cooperation with LANXESS, we use energy in our electrolysis plants in North Rhine-Westphalia on a pro-rata basis, which enables us to reduce our reported emissions by up to 1,20,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year”.

“The joint project with Covestro is an important building block in making our entire value chain climate-neutral. By sourcing raw materials for these products with a significantly reduced carbon footprint, we will be able to reduce our reported indirect emissions by up to 1,20,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents per year,” says Dr. Hubert Fink, member of the LANXESS Board of Management. With its Net Zero Value Chain Initiative, the specialty chemicals group plans to eliminate Scope 3 emissions within its upstream and downstream supply chain by 2050. This includes indirect emissions, particularly from purchased raw materials, but also in logistics or disposal. For Scope 1 and 2 emissions, the company aims to be climate neutral as early as 2040. Fink adds, “With this program, we are taking the next step towards a climate-neutral product portfolio and also supporting our customers, who are increasingly looking for sustainable solutions”.

Chlorine, caustic soda and hydrogen are basic building blocks for many products in the chemical industry. However, their production is very energy-intensive. LANXESS uses the raw materials supplied by Covestro, for example, for products that are then used in the food and agricultural industries.

We remind, Covestro announced that Samir Hifri will take the reins as chairman and president at Covestro LLC, effective July 1, 2023. In this role, Hifri will lead the U.S. operations of the global materials company, succeeding Haakan Jonsson, who will retire after 30-plus years of service with Covestro.

Covestro produces the three basic raw materials at its North Rhine-Westphalian sites in Leverkusen, Krefeld-Uerdingen and Dormagen. Both the former has already been certified to the internationally recognized ISCC PLUS standard for the production of the strategic raw material chlorine, while this is also planned for Dormagen in the near future. The correct allocation of the electricity to the products is ensured via this certification and the use of the renewable energy is proven by the invalidation of certificates of origin at the Federal Environment Agency.

Covestro is also actively involved in various projects to build a hydrogen economy that uses mainly or exclusively green hydrogen as an energy carrier. Among other things, the company is supporting, in cooperation with Hydrogenious LOHC Technologies, to build the world’s largest plant for storing renewable hydrogen in liquid organic carriers in Dormagen, Germany.
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MOSCW (MRC) -- Air Products announced financial close and transfer of the second group of assets for the USD12 billion gasification and power joint venture (JV) with Aramco, ACWA Power and Air Products Qudra in the Jazan Economic City, Saudi Arabia, said the company.

The JV’s purchase of this second group of assets at Jazan follows the successful asset acquisition and project financing transactions for the first group of assets completed in late October 2021. Some minor final commissioning items are expected to be completed later this calendar year.

Seifi Ghasemi, Chairman, President and CEO of Air Products, said, “We are very proud to mark the close on the second group of assets at Jazan, a world-scale project that is a perfect fit with our growth strategy and which supports the Kingdom’s Vision 2030. Consistent with our commitment, this will deliver significant contributions to our earnings going forward."

Approximately 40 percent of the JV’s capital structure consists of member contributions, and the remaining 60 percent consists of non-recourse project financing.

We remind, Air Products and The AES Corporation announced plans to invest approximately USD4 billion to build, own and operate a green hydrogen production facility in Wilbarger County, Texas.

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